Dr. Mobey

Funny Photoshop

Brett — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:23:02 +0000

Please insert funny photoshop of a man doing something funny {here}

I’m very tired or I would do this myself.

What it costs

Brett — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:01:56 +0000

Porsche Cayenne: $1,900 a month

Iphones for two people in a family: $5,800 for the two years you are on contract.

Starbucks a day for a year: $730 a year

One Pack a day: $180 a month $2160 a year

All of these things cost money. If you spend money on these things that is fine, it just comes at the expense of other things. You will have less money to pay for food, housing and donuts. I’m never going top tell my neighbor that he should not have a Porsche. Maybe he has a bunch of money and that car is only 20% of his budget, right where it should be. It is not 20% of any budget I have or ever will see so I’ll stick with my paid off Civic. Not as sexy, but I have food to eat.

Its about what matters to you and how much of your budget it takes up. I gauran-fricking-tee you that the people who complain about credit card debt yet have iPhones are deceiving themselves. They have sick budgets. I am simply offering up some information on how to spend less money and rightsize the budget. Set a goal to smoke less, not quit right away, write the full amount of $180 a month down even if you plan on quitting. When you finally quit simply erase “Cancer” from your budget and put that $180 a month in your savings. But set a realistic goal, not one that you won’t stick to.

Led to Water

Brett — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:57:19 +0000

I can talk all day long about what you should do. How you should do it, and why. But people won’t start doing something like budgeting unless they come to it willingly. We have to feel that an active choice has been made. I hear stories everyday of how people are doing something that in my opinion is wrong. Carrying a balance on a credit card, raiding the 401K to fund a lifestyle. My instinct is to cry “I can help!” and fix everything. But these random people don’t want me to fix anything. Just like I don’t care that I occasionally misspell in a post, I know that I should proofread carefully but I want to just post and move on. It hapins. People want to feel that they have found the solution to their problems by themselves, even if they elicit the help of an expert, they were the ones who found that expert. This is a very keen point that I sometimes miss. I genuinely want to help people because I know so damn much that could help them. But they will not be led to water.

So what is the solution? I’ll continue to help those that seek me out. Those that I help will be better off. they will tell people to find me and so on. It’s word of mouth I suppose. That said, if you have a question, ask me. I read all 4 of the comments that are submitted every year. If you have a personal financial type question, ask me. Or really if you just want to say hi, I’m not slammed with e-mails over here. Yet. And I know quite a bit about birds and wildlife for some reason, feel free to chat.

696 at night

Brett — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:06:56 +0000

The Sidecar

Brett — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:01:27 +0000

People tell white lies all of the time. we tend to hold back things that we may be embarrassed about. when we are budgeting with a spouse or significant other these tendencies come out full force. That’s when the sidecar budget comes in. The sidecar budget is there to hold all of the personal things that we want to keep to ourselves. I’ve been known to buy an action figure every now and then (they aren’t dolls dammit!) and before I realized that I was being stupid, I kept this from my wife. My wife is smarter than me though. She wondered where money was going and checked the bank account online. One day while I was in an undisclosed location my wife called and asked me what I was doing in this undisclosed location. Quickly checking around to see if the crazy woman was following me she told me that she saw that I had just made a large purchase there. This is when I realized that I needed to affix my sidecar budget to the normal budget. Our income was funding it and I needed to be accountable for it. So I hemmed and hawed and we decided on a number that we could both live with monthly. I may not spend that amount each month, I may save it but I know myself. I’m-a gonna spend some money eventually so I might as well be prepared for it.

Just be honest. Otherwise the sidecar budget becomes a wedge that will slowly but surely drive two people apart. I guarantee it. Money and finances are the number one stated reason for divorce in America. Lets start realizing that we have complete control over this part of our lives and by being a little bit more open, we can have our sidecars.

Brett — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:07:55 +0000

Lessons From Dad

Brett — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:53:08 +0000

My dad has a cell phone plan with 60 minutes a month. He turns off his phone 99% of the time. When I asked him why the hell he did this he stated that he has it for emergencies and people aren’t going to call him if there’s an emergency.
People love cell phones but if we evaluate what we really use them for and what we can do without they should be at the top of the list. I see people trying to justify $100 plus cell plans when they are cutting the budget. I have seen people cut the grocery budget rather than give up an iPhone. Folks, get your priorities straight. Cut the technology and live a little. The peace that it is most likely to bring is well worth the few days of smartphone withdrawal you will endure. Take a page from my dad’s book.

Brett — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:24:37 +0000

Gimmie MY Bailout!

Brett — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:26:38 +0000

I am asked weekly if the government has provided any money to bail out people in debt. Nope. Should they? Except in extreme cases, credit card debt is usually a symptom of spending too much, not budgeting and not paying attention to the balances that result. Fix the budget, spend less than you earn and learn to live without every god-blessed convenience that is up for sale. So no, the government did not bail out anyone in the private sector. They did offer up gajillions in loans to business, and like it or not, most unbiased experts believe that it worked, the economy is getting better. Now I am of the belief that everyone, including the government should spend less than they bring in, but most governments are messed up beyond belief. It will take a lot more than an eraser and all nighter to fix.

In the meantime, take stock of what matters, your family, PBS, homemade fireworks. Things that don’t cost a penny. Tune up your family budget while you are at it and then cancel the credit cards and don’t worry about the credit score, they won’t bankrupt you for getting out of debt.

My Favorite Question

Brett — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:25:58 +0000

Can I buy this giant thing that I can’t afford?

This question lets Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman talk for an hour every night saying the same thing to every single caller. NO. But what they don’t say really says a lot about how we perceive money and status in America. What do we want? Why do we want it? And do we really need it? I am firmly in the camp of wanting every god-blessed thing that I see. New Iphone with a blender dongle? Sign me up for a four year contract! I may buy all of the crap, but I use real money. I try to save it up, then I buy it. and I don’t use credit. When I don’t have money I whine that I want stuff but I don’t buy it. This is hard. We want the five bedroom house with 17 baths and a BMW in the circular drive. Guess what, that doofus hasn’t paid his mortgage in 6 months and spends more than he makes each month. Tell you what, I’d rather live a bit beneath my means and breathe easy.

After you get your budget written out (always the first step) and determine what your means are and what they mean to you, then you can start saving for that Aston Martin with the toilet built into the back.